MOUNT RAINIER Trail Guide 1941

Crystal Peak Fire Lookout

Located 3.9 miles by trail from the White River Highway is 6,615-foot-high Crystal Peak. Here the National Park Service has a fire lookout, who, like all the other lookouts in the park, is always happy to have visitors and to explain to them how the "eyes of the Service" function.

The trail to Crystal Peak winds ever upward from the road through areas of heavy reproduction and then out into an old burn. A little-used branch trail leads to Crystal Lake.

An unofficial but interesting route for the pioneering hiker to reach Crystal Lake is from Chinook Pass. Starting on the Cascade Crest Trail, the hiker follows this for a short distance and then cuts back into the park watershed, in general following through burned-over country near the Cascade Crest and above Deadwood Lakes in the park. There is no established trail through this section and only those who can follow topography and topographic maps should try this route.

Tipsoo Lake to Three Lakes via the Cascade Crest Trail

This trail is part of the regular Cascade Crest Trail System and is 12.2 miles long. It is partly in Mount Rainier National Park and partly in Snoqualmie National Forest. Beginning at Tipsoo Lake in the park, the trail swings south along the ridges alternating in the park on the westward-facing watershed and out of the park on the eastward-facing watershed. There is much good big game country along the way. Elk, bear, and deer may all be seen. Much of the trail is out of the trees and through alpine meadows. Good views of Mount Rainier and the park are numerous, as well as views down the eastward slope of the Cascades towards the Yakima Valley.

Dewey Lake, 2.5 miles from the trail start at Tipsoo Lake is a good-sized lake set in a hollowed-out area just outside the boundaries of the park. The Forest Service has a trailside shelter on the shores of the lake.

Continuing on to Three Lakes, the scene is one of ever-changing vistas, first on one side of the Cascades and then on the other. It is primitive country.

From Three Lakes, two of which are inside the park, there is a National Park Service trail leading down Laughing Water Creek to the Ohanapecosh Road. It is 5.7 miles from Three Lakes to the road. The trail is entirely in the woods, with occasional openings where Laughing Water Creek may be seen. Back again at the road one is close to the Ohanapecosh Hot Springs developed area. Before hiking the Cascade Crest country it is advisable to consult the ranger at the Ohanapecosh Entrance for trail information as the trails in this section of the park are more difficult to follow in some cases and are often not provided with conveniently located trailside shelters.

TRAILS OF CHINOOK PASS (SECTION 5)
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